Indev monthly roundup #1: Where on Earth have we been?
The answer may surprise you - we've been actually getting up to stuff.
Hello! We’re Indev, and you may know us from such works as…
…okay, let’s talk about that.
So if you’re part of our community (which, if you’ve been made aware of this post’s existence, you probably are), you’ve probably been here a long time! And if you’ve been here a long time, you may be aware of our existence floating in and out of your consciousness because we’ve had almost no news to share for the past six months.
That’s on us. There’s no denying that we’re definitely not working at our 100% potential. But, we have actually been up to quite a lot of stuff behind the scenes! The problem we have is we’re quite insular, and we like to withhold details for the sake of surprising our audience.
Sometimes though, you just have to evaluate how much you want people to know. And “nothing” is rarely a good answer.
So, this blog post(?) is us pulling back the curtain, so we have a lot of ground to cover re: what we've been up to since mid 2022. Being the first of its kind, this will be one of our longer posts, so strap in.
PROJECT GILES
So we’re gonna start off with one that a lot of you are at least hopefully aware of. GILES is a project that’s been in pre-production for nigh on around 3 years now, and since Indev’s creation, we’ve really gotten somewhere with it.
To start with, we’re trying something that’s actually new for us - an overarching Design Document that will keep us all in line with the goals of the project. Why we never bothered with one before now (and continue to work without one for most other projects) is beyond me, but so far it’s been a really good baseline for us to work alongside.
That being said, it’s actually nowhere near done! A lot of sections are yet to be written, and others are always open to being rewritten in case we change our minds on something. It’s a wonder to have it by our side though!
Next, onto more substantiative updates. Without giving away too much (I said I was pulling back the curtain, not letting everything out!), GILES is a story about death, and the challenges the dead face in a world built for the living. To further that dichotomy, we settled on an art style that has been proven in concept, but not yet for the game itself:
The difference between real and fake! Going this route will be costly and timely, but it’s worth it for the payoff I think. I already have a DSLR camera ready to go, and I get to travel and call it work!
The entire story for GILES is planned from beginning to end in simple draft terms - more refined planning & actual writing don’t stretch as far however. The first four scenes have been completely written, with more set to go in the coming weeks.
Unfortunately, due to the ridiculous scale of GILES, I can’t honestly give an expected release date. But it will come, and it will ideally keep making appearances in these updates.
PROJECT DOWNHILL
This one is a little interesting, and unfortunately I don’t have any artwork to really promote it with yet - so for now, just imagine a picture of the average mid-30s Wetherspoon regular.
This project started life as one of our Palette projects (our ill-fated “introductory” projects that were supposed to be short, sweet and released in a timely manner after our creation). Turns out DOWNHILL was growing at an exponential rate, so it was promoted to full project.
In short, it’s a story about watching someone you love hit the self-destruct button. The setup is pretty easy: 6 “months” (chapters), 6 glimpses into the lives of our characters and their deteriorating relationships. The entire thing has a soft plan, but only the first scene has been actually “written” as of right now.
I’ve got some character designs rattling around in my head, but not necessarily put to paper (or Clip Studio) yet. Depending on what takes the focus over the next month, I may have something visual to bring back next time!
BJ’S FINAL HOURS
So, this one was gonna follow the Rt Hon Bogart Jimson MP’s time as Prime Minister of our glorious country, the “United” Kingdom, and all the chaos that ensued. It was actually gonna be pretty cool, with ridiculous political cartoons serving as our sprites.
Unfortunately, due to the triviality of Boris Johnson’s actions in comparison with other recent leaders (notably Liz “£70bn down the drain” Truss and Rishi “Eat Out to spread Covid” Sunak), we’ve made the difficult decision to axe this project. It’s simply too much to keep up with, and to be honest with the worsening state of the country, I find myself trying to remember what Boris actually did.
However, our political satirical spirit is alive and well, and it will return, in the form of…
THE TURNELL INQUIRY
So, this is an odd one. This is our only project that we can really “connect” to our predecessor, Wretched Team, as we co-opted the universe for this project. But trust me, it’ll be nothing like Wintermute. And it’s a winner if you enjoyed Wintermute’s (under-explained, perhaps) lore.
As the image says, this is “a series of televised excerpts from the public inquiry into the practices of Turnell Technologies”. If you’ve played Wintermute, you know already. But I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of bringing everything out into the light of day. It’s perhaps why I mentioned the inquiry in Wintermute in the first place. So, what actually is it?
Fifteen testimonies (six written fully, the rest planned out in detail), presented as if it’s straight from the BBC (not the actual BBC of course, we have to be legally distinct). Using a screenshot from The Thick of It’s 59-minute long inquiry episode (an episode I’d describe as fundamental in the creation of this project) as a stand-in for our as-yet non-existent artwork, this is a little like how it’ll be presented:
Unfortunately, The Turnell Inquiry isn’t live action, and we didn’t secure Roger Allam to play William Turnell. But, we do have a little sketch:
And we do have a very basic floor-plan for the inquiry room itself:
(By the way, if you know how to 3D model & are willing to help us bring this to life, do let us know! We’re still looking!)
Now, as we did with Project Wintermute back in the day, we want to be secretive about the contents, the events & generally cryptic about teasers and stuff. So from this point forward, we don’t plan to publicly acknowledge The Turnell Inquiry in these updates - be on the lookout for less conventional announcements, however.
HIM & HER
So…Him & Her was not treated kindly in the last six months. Despite being one of our older projects, it was kinda left behind in the rush of the other big projects. By all means, it will still release, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future to boot!
But yeah, it means unfortunately we don’t have much to talk about here.
However, here’s the titular “Her” as an apology (art by Malukah)!
KACPER: THE NINE VODKAS
I’m a little short on actual knowledge for this one, as this is more or less an impenetrable inside joke, but the headline here is that it is not a visual novel! Mad, right? It’s actually a Unity game - a Slender like, but it’s still a real game.
I asked DBS to write this section, so here it is right from the mouth of the horse:
In Kacper The Nine Vodkas, you play as an unnamed woman whose sheer luck led her into the most cursed forest in the entire nation of Poland, ruled by one being of a particular muscular structure named the Kacper Man. To escape, you must collect the nine 15ft polish vodka bottles scattered around before He captures you! (P.S there are also 4 notes to collect if you want to learn about him)
Fret not that you can try luring him away if you ever get cornered, by using the speaker picked up in the forest! It plays a random song which He finds offensive and scares Him away! Beware to not use it much though, it has very limited battery life since it was manufactured in Poland and there aren't many batteries in this particular forest.
A foolish person is the one who seeks the truth
And a little progress report on it:
Basic AI implemented, to be fleshed out further into development
Starting map design of the forest and placement of vodka bottles and notes
Flashlights and speaker mechanics are finished, along with battery system
Ending(s) to be written after finishing level design
PROJECT SNOWDRIFT
I’m not too knowledgeable on this project as Stacker is head chef, and I asked him to write this section (we originally had notes as this update was planned as a YouTube video which turned out wank), but he’s not responding so I’ll give you the raw notes & show off some wonderful sprite-work by external artist gupmihoniumu:
-- A visual novel based on the anime/manga series "Girls und Panzer"
-- Most major plot points have already been outlined
-- The sprites for the main characters have all been completed, with many side characters on the way
-- Work on a teaser/playable demo has been started
WORKING TITLE
This one’s quite exciting, but right now it’s on the backburner. It’s more or less still in pre-production, but I'll give you the synopsis:
Working Title presents a world without external influence. One where your every thought influences and shapes the world around you. See the world through the eyes of a lonely god trying to come to terms with their situation, as they try to live in a world made entirely for them.
But be aware, your mind isn't always the safest place.
SAIN: LIVE AT THE LAMBERT AMPITHEATRE
This is a story about concert culture, and the kinds of people you meet on that adventure. I’ve been to a lot of gigs, but not yet “enough” for me to accurately depict that.
Luckily, I’m going to see Shame later this month & Death Grips in June. And because you’re all basically clamouring to see it, here’s Tropical Fuck Storm live in Bristol with “Rubber Bullies”:
That hasn’t stopped us from doing a little planning beforehand. The first scene is written, and all the characters (emphasis on “character” as an adjective) have been planned out. Here’s one of them, art once again courtesy of Malukah.
Parasocial
"daily.jaredp.edits"
Wants to bang the drummer
Runs an Instagram fan page based around him
Spouts off weird trivial facts about his life
Brandishes a "JARED SUCK MY TOES" sign
LIFE IN A FISH TANK
I’ll let Rose’s palette speak for itself. Responses to her queries are welcome.
-- Main menu is implemented
-- Characters planned out, corner friend planned out
-- Jokes schemed, japes plotted, capers mustered, Kacper removed
-- Cancelled Lorem Ipsum mode
-- Load game feature put on hold due to difficulty convincing the fish to get back into place
-- Continue option put on hold due to the fish voting on strike action
-- Collected all the Shakespeare quotes (limited, as I couldn't reanimate his corpse long enough for him to create new ones)
-- Still figuring out what noise a fish makes (submit your own)
BREAK AND ENTER
Finally, we finish off with a little audience interaction.
As Indev’s only contribution to DDLC modding, this one is in a weird place right now. It only exists because of the Saul Mod Jam we hosted as Wretched Team, our farewell to modding. And we thought “hey, what if Indev made a mod for it? That would be a good way to show our up-to-date portfolio!”
And I mean, maybe that would have worked, if we ever finished it. The script was done pretty quickly (and remains so), but putting it together was just too exhausting for us. The jam came and went, and we were left with this 100% written script that we weren’t really interested in actually putting into a mod (and that, in reality, doesn’t work as a mod outside the premise of being made for a content-specific jam).
But with so much actual original VN work done now, we’re feeling more up to the task. So, should Break and Enter see a release? You decide!
And so, I think that’s it for March. It’s good to get all this off our chest, and it’s good to finally have a medium where we can write long-form updates like these (been missing the Wretched Team website recently, RIP Steve Jobs). So, see you in April!
- Penny
Note: Lonesome wishes to remain super secretive with his projects, so his projects will not be included.
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